south african art, design & handmade goods

felt

I absolutely love this new range of leather and velt goods by Janine Mollentze owner and designer at Veltwerk. Janine is a freelance content producer who lives in Cape Town. She told Handsome Things a bit about her background, inspiration and how Veltwerk got started.

“I grew up watching my grandmother cut patterns, sew, knit and crochet everything and anything. It was just something that was part of my life. As a teenager I was always interested in fashion, and I would ask her to to make garments from the designs I drew up.

After high school I studied both Journalism and Fine Arts, but due to my short attention span I never finished either, but rather took the time to travel abroad and immersed myself into learning about European cultures. It was in London that I got a broader understanding of the international fashion industry and even though I worked in the VFX industry, I spent a lot of my free time online and on the high streets appreciating beautiful apparel and accessories.

Janine and Mymy

Ever since I can remember, I have been creative and I’ve always had a great appreciation for art, fashion, and photography. On my return to SA in 2012, all I wanted was to lose myself in any creative activity I could find, sewing was one of these, and I quickly started dreaming up ideas for bags, scanning the internet for inspiration.

I purchased materials and started experimenting at home but soon realised that working with leather is not an easy task and started sourcing more advanced production methods.

Now I am more involved in design and material sourcing than the manufacturing, but believe that I have a personal connection with the concepts of my collections and that VELTWERK as a brand is a functional expression of who I am. How it will evolve in future is going to have a lot to do with my new life on African soil.

I recently also started producing a range of contemporary ceramics that will be available for purchase in our online shop very soon. Keep your eyes on our website veltwerk.co.za“